Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

35 onfessions of a STAR Interviewer R By ANOTHER ONE OF THEM lUTH HALE, the writer (whose husband is Heywood Broun, also a writer whose name appears from time to time in various periodicals), tells a story about two actresses who, once upon a time, were in the chorus together, but who later rose or were lifted to much more conspicuous places in the spoken drama. One of them became a culture addict and her airs began at last to irk her less pretentious comrade. One day the two were sitting at tea. The heavy affectations of the one, which deceived those who did not know her so well as did her friend, became too much for the friend, who finally turned upon her and inquired^ "Dearie, ain't you ever common no more ?" Some of our movie queens, even some of the kings, yea, even some of the two-spots, would be better off if they had friends equally as frank. They have forgotten the one touch of nature that makes the whole world kin. Maybe they don't want to be kin to the whole world, but even if they have withdrawn themselves to the upper levels they should not let too many people know about it. For the moving-picture business is one sphere in which he or she who has the swelled head will sooner or later get the bump from which there is no returning. One reason that Mabel Normand is never without a defender is that she is not only willing but anxious to say and do nice things for others. Notice I didn't say "for everybody"? Mabel is not that much of a humanitarian. She has a few very choice enemies, but so has everybody else who has enough strength of character to have made any friends. Mabel is against those enemies and for her friends. And she has the right slant on some of the egomaniacs. I was interviewing her once when she suddenly stopped talking about the mental basis of comedy, which was the topic under discussion at the time, and called my attention to another woman star who had just entered the restaurant in which we were sitting. "She and I were extras togj|ter once," she said, "a^Q believe it or not, after she got a job as leading woman she began to upstage me. Oh, yes, indeed. "She didn't hurt my feelings any, but I hated to see her make such a monkey of herself. "So one day when we met in a roomful of people and she pulled this high-brow air and drawl on me, all I said to her was : "'You don't seem to remember me very well, do you ? Well, can't you remember when you and I were bathing girls together and you used to borrow my shirt?' "Maybe it wasn't a nice thing to say, but it woke her up. No, it wasn't original with me. I got it from Mae Busch. It's the line that Mae has used to puncture many a balloon." •J "Mary Miles Minter was asleep and the servant that admitted me would not awaken her. I waited one hour and a half, but after her mother came in the room she brought down Mary in a hurry." 1 DON'T know how manv interviews I have done with Mabel Normand, and I don't know how many I have done with Polly Frederick (nobody who knows her would dream of calling her Pauline), but I do know that until now I've never set down the most interesting thing that either of them ever told me. And that is that both of them swore, and when I say swore I mean swore, that if I ever wrote anything about how much they did for other people they never would speak to me again ! You see, I had heard in this quarter and in that stories of their kindness, not only financial kindness, but personal, helping hand kindness to any number of the boys and girls who needed help. I figured that it might be a good idea to do a Lady Bountiful interview with them, with either of them or both, but there was nothing doing. Yet I have read interviews with other stars who lightly dropped hints of princely benefactions of one kind and another and interviews with other stars who did not drop the hints, but sat down and wrote out the names and the amounts. And if I had added all those amounts together they would not have equaled the sums of money that Mabel and Polly have thrown upon the waters. Polly cried once because I wouldn't let her buy me a $100 hat and Mabel MMr